


Coming Home To You

by Pixelated_Scout, WanderingShaman



Category: Sally Face (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Family, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Collaboration, Enemies to Friends, Family Fluff, Fluff, Found Family, Househusband Larry, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Infidelity, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, eventual angst, tiktok inspired, two authors
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:29:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23639869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pixelated_Scout/pseuds/Pixelated_Scout, https://archiveofourown.org/users/WanderingShaman/pseuds/WanderingShaman
Summary: If someone had told Larry Johnson that he would marry the man of his dreams and have two beautiful girls, he would have told them they were full of shit. Well, it turns out they weren't so full of shit after all. Every morning he counts his blessings when he wakes up next to Sal, their two daughters sleeping peacefully in their rooms. Okay, maybe not so peacefully. Being a stay at home Dad is by no means an easy profession. There's cooking and cleaning and bathing a certain toddler covered in flour. Yea, it's no cakewalk, but it's a life Larry loves. It's not all fun and games though. And although they've had a downright idyllic life, storm clouds are coming. But regardless of the storm they may face, they will always have one thing that keeps them together:Family.
Relationships: Sal Fisher/Larry Johnson
Comments: 6
Kudos: 21





	Coming Home To You

“Okay, do you have your backpack?”

“Yes, Dad.” 

“Do you have your jacket?” 

“Yes, Dad.” 

“And your lunch—” 

“Yes, Dad!!”

Larry Johnson crouched down in front of his eight year old daughter, Sophie. She had her arms crossed over her chest, staring at her father as she impatiently waited for her other father, Sal, to join them. Larry reached out and flicked the girl on the nose, causing her to giggle and shove his hand away. He smiled goofily at her, reaching up and ruffling her hair, something which caused her to pout. She worked hard to fix her hair this morning. She brushed it all by herself and now it was all messed up.

“Daddd,” she whined.

Larry chuckled. “Okay, okay. I’ll fix it.”

He ran the brush through her hair, smoothing it back down from where he ruffled it. Her hair looked so much like his—deep brown and incredibly thick. It made it a pain when it got tangled, but times like this, when it’s brushed and washed, it looked gorgeous. Larry smiled just from brushing it out like this. His own little girl; one of the lights of his life.

When he finally tamed it back to how she had it originally, he turned her around to look at her. “I’m sorry, Soph. You know if I didn’t worry about you, I’d have nothing to worry about,” Larry chuckled. 

“I know, I know.” She flung herself into his arms, hugging him tightly. “Do I have to go to school today?” 

A voice came from the hallway, “Yes, you do.”  
Larry’s loving husband of 10 years, Sal Fisher-Johnson, walked out into the living room. He looked every bit the picture of beauty Larry married all those years ago. His hair may have been longer and his form more filled out, but his aura has remained unchanged. He’s still that same witty, sarcastic teenager who wandered into his room that day.

Larry stood up, holding Sophie in his arms as she pouted at Sal. “You’re no fun,” Larry teased. 

“Yeah, Daddy. You’re no fun! I wanna stay home and play video games with Dad!” Sophie whined. 

In that moment, Larry knew he would have caved had Sal not been there to stop him. Video games with Sophie sounded a lot more fun than video games without Sophie… even if she did always seem to beat him, and he wasn’t even letting her win!!

“You know what?” Sally began to fix his hair as he got ready to place his prosthetic on, “You can, tomorrow!” 

Sophie gasped. “Really?!” She lit up excitedly before pausing, realizing what he meant. “Wait,” the excited look turned instantly suspicious. “Tomorrow’s Saturday.”

Sally chuckled smugly. “Gotcha.” He leaned over to Larry, giving him a sweet kiss before slipping his prosthetic on and clipping it on. 

Larry set Sophie down, the girl letting herself go limp and laying on the carpet in protest. Larry just snorted, going into the kitchen and grabbing Sally’s green ‘House of the Wretched’ lunchbox. He handed him the lunchbox with a kiss to his temple, Sally smiling warmly under his prosthetic. 

“You’re too good to us, Lar.” Sally smiled, wrapping his arms around Larry for a warm hug after he took the lunchbox. 

“It’s only because I love you.” He smirked, placing a soft kiss to the lips of Sal’s mask. 

“Grooooss!” called out Sophie from the living room, still on the carpet. 

Sal rolled his eye at her, “I will not hesitate to drag you to school, missy. Get up, let’s get going before I get another ‘Tardy’ note from your teachers.”

Larry snickered from beside him. “That’s pretty bad babe. School counselor can’t get his own daughter to school on time.”

“Oh shut it,” Sally responded playfully. “She takes after you. Now, which of us is dragging her out the door today?”

“It’s absolutely going to be you,” Larry said. He moved to the other side of the island countertop, pouring himself a second cup of coffee. Insomnia was still his ever faithful companion and it had only gotten worse since the second addition to their family. Not that he was complaining though. He would never complain about the beautiful lights of his life. “If it were up to me, Soph and I would stay home playing video games. But nooo, someone says she has to go to school and get an education.”

Sally closed the distance between them quickly. Making sure that he was very much in his personal bubble as he spoke: “You, Larry Fisher-Johnson, are being a terrible example.” He sounded so serious, but Larry could easily see the teasing glint in his real eye. That glint let him know that he wasn’t in too deep of trouble… yet.

“And you, Sally Fisher-Johnson, have gotten so uptight,” he teased right back. He used his height to his advantage as he wrapped his arms loosely around his waist. “I think you need to remember how to relax and enjoy yourself. Being on time is overrated.”

Sally was about to fire another teasing comment back at him, but both of them were interrupted when Sophie wandered back into the kitchen of her own volition. “You’re being lovey dovey and gross. I wanna go to school now.”

Larry moved away from Sally in an instant, swooping down to lift his little angel up into his arms. He rubbed their cheeks together, tickling her with the coarse hairs of his beard. Sophie couldn’t help the squeals of laughter that fell forth from her lips as she held onto him and when he pulled back she pouted. “See, my little miracle, we can be lovey dovey with you too.”

A snicker echoed from behind him and he turned, daughter still wrapped in his arms, to see Sally stifling a laugh. Sally lifted up his prosthetic, something he never dreamed of being truly comfortable doing, and leaned forward to kiss his daughter’s forehead and his husband’s lips. “God, I love you.” Then the prosthetic went back down, covering those scarred lips once again.

Larry’s grin looked dopey and so incredibly genuine. “I love you too.”

“I love you Dad and Daddy!” Sophie cried, refusing to be left out.

“Alright, c’mon sweetheart, we need to get you to school,” Sally smiled. This time there wasn’t any protest from any of them.

* * *

“Did you remember to help her pack her backpack last night?” a brunette woman asked, her hair tied back neatly. She was bustling about the kitchen, trying to put the finishing touches on the packed lunch for her daughter and husband while also nursing her second cup of coffee. It was an early morning for her, as she tried to be the perfect housewife. Her family didn’t make it easy though and she couldn’t help the annoyed sigh when she saw the books and other school supplies still laid out on the table. “Travis. I thought you were going to help her pack last night. We can’t be late.”

“I forgot okay,” Travis snapped, his expression annoyed. But then he saw his daughter, his sweet, perfect daughter, and his expression instantly softened. “Hey sweetpea. Can you come help me put your things in your backpack?”

The little girl looked like the spitting image of her father, golden blonde hair, brilliant green eyes and a pink shirt in their shared favorite color. Her expression was sad watching her parents bicker, but the moment Travis addressed her, a smile came to her face. She always was closer with him. “Sure Daddy!” She hurried over to him and started to carefully put each book and school supply into her backpack.

“That’s a bad habit to get into,” the woman chastised.

“I think it’ll be okay for one day, Julia,” Travis sighed tiredly. He put the last book in before standing up and taking his daughter’s hand. “C’mon sweetpea, let’s get you to school.”

“Travis,” Julia said warningly.

Travis leaned down to kiss the top of his daughter’s head, trying to soothe away the worried expression on her face. “Wait one moment and I’ll take you.” He went into the other room, hoping that his daughter wouldn’t hear them arguing. 

“Yes Julia?” he asked tiredly.

“You need to be more strict with her, Travis,” she said, hands crossed in front of her. “She’s learning bad habits when she doesn’t pick up after herself or get ready the night before. Do you want her to end up a drop out or dead beat or pregnant at sixteen? Because you’re acting like that’s what you want, catering to her like this.”

Travis’ eyes narrowed as he glared at her. “She’s _eight, Julia_. She’s a kid and kids are messy.” He turned on his heel to leave, knowing that his wife was absolutely fuming; knowing that he’d have to deal with the repercussions of this later. But for right now, he only wanted to concentrate on the one truly important person in his life. 

“Ready to go, Avery?”

“Yes Daddy,” she grinned, showing off the gap where she’s missing a tooth. She took off towards the door, Travis hot on her heels. Even if the morning was rocky, his time spent with his daughter was what really mattered. Avery was the only light he needed in his life.

* * *

With the house now quiet and a bit emptier, Larry had been wiping down the coffee stains on the kitchen counter. He was focusing on one particular spot, spray bottle in one hand and a rag in the other. He was left in his thoughts, hoping both of his loves would have a decent day. 

Larry was used to these days pretty much alone with his thoughts since Sophie had gotten old enough to go to school. The premature empty-nest-syndrome was soothed, however, when they welcomed their second daughter, Magnolia Lisa Fisher-Johnson, into the world two years ago. 

A smile came to his lips as he heard those little footsteps toddling into the kitchen. He set the spray bottle down, throwing the rag onto his shoulder. He turned around to be met with the toddler with brilliant blue hair waddling into the kitchen. 

“Hey sleepyhead! I was just about to come get you!” Larry smiled, crouching down and putting his arms out. The little girl smiled and fell into his arms, Larry hugging her tightly and picking her up. 

“G’morning, Dada.” Magnolia yawned, using one of her tiny hands to rub her eyes. “Hungy.” 

“Let’s get you some breakfast, alright? What cereal do you want today?” He shifted her onto his hip, opening the cereal cupboard, only to see they only had one option of cereal. 

“Jeez… I need to go grocery shopping. Cheerios it is,” he said as he grabbed the box. 

“Jeez,” Magnolia parroted, earning a chuckle from Larry. 

He set the blue-haired girl down on the floor as he prepared her cereal, practically watching her out of the corner of his eye as she wandered around the kitchen, looking at everything around her. Magnolia was a curious girl—she took after Sal in that sense. She would open anything she could reach and look through anything her tiny hands could grab. Currently, she had opened one of the lower cabinets, taking out a plastic mixing bowl and setting it on her head. 

“Alright, Mags,” Larry took the little bowl of cereal along with her small spoon over to the table, setting them both down. He returned and stared at her as she was currently slapping the sides of the bowl on her head. 

She looked up at her father, only to now have a big, dopey grin across her face. “Hi dada.” 

“Hi, Mags,” he laughed, taking the bowl off her head and setting it on the counter. He picked her up and whisked her away to the table. He plopped her down in her booster chair, pinching her cheek gently. 

“Get it in your mouth this time, got it?” He handed her the spoon. 

“Got it!” She dropped the spoon on the table, and immediately began to eat with her hands. 

He kept a close eye on her as he went back around the kitchen island and prepared himself a bowl of cereal as well. He grabbed his bowl and spoon, shutting the door to the fridge with his hip and quickly sliding into the chair next to Magnolia. 

“Why eat with your spoon, Dada?” Magnolia asked, watching Larry eat. 

“Because you’re supposed to eat with a spoon,” he explained, mouth partly full of cheerios. 

“Well,” Magnolia took a fistful of cheerios, her hand wet with milk, and shoved them into her mouth. She seemed like she was going to finish her sentence, but never really did. 

Larry rolled his eyes and just continued to eat, resting his chin on his hand as he watched his daughter ruin her pajamas as she covered herself in milk with each fistful of cereal.

“Wanna go to the store with me after breakfast, Mags?” he asked her as if she had a choice. 

“Yeah!” she giggled, trying to reach for the cheerios in his bowl. 

“Hey!” he exclaimed with a laugh, pulling his bowl away from her. He stood up from the table, snatching Magnolia from her booster seat and pulling her in for a tight hug. “You asked for it, missy!” he laughed, covering her face in kisses as she squealed loudly and squirmed against him. 

“Dada, nooo!” Magnolia screamed, kicking and wiggling in his hold. He smiled and let out a long sigh, now just hugging her close. 

“Let’s get you bathed and ready to go, okay?” He brushed her long blue hair out of her face. 

“Okay!” She held onto him tightly, looking up at him with those big brown eyes. 

* * *

  
  


Water splashed gently against the walls of the tub, Larry lathering strawberry-scented shampoo through Magnolia’s thick blue hair. The radio from the corner of the room played a random rock station, the volume low but echoing quietly throughout the bathroom. He sat on the small stool at the side of the tub that the girls usually used at the sink to brush their teeth. Magnolia quietly splashed her rubber ducks under the water, babbling and singing to herself as she knocked the ducks against each other. 

Larry filled up a faded plastic Barbie cup with water, placing his hand over her eyes and having her tilt her head back. “Eyes closed, babygirl.”

Magnolia hummed in response, leaning her head back and closing her eyes tightly, inhaling hard and holding her breath with puffed up cheeks. He poured the water over her hair and washed the shampoo out. 

“Radical, little dude.” Larry smiled as he finished rinsing out her hair, Magnolia exhaling in response. She continued to play quietly, Larry grabbing a brush to get out all of the knots and tangles. 

One thing he was grateful for was that unlike Sophie, Magnolia never complained when he’d get the knots out of her hair. She was quiet and calm, just like Sal. He carefully brushed through the knots on her wet hair, looking at the color that was an exact match to Sal’s. He smiled to himself as he brushed, looking at his beautiful little girl. 

Magnolia was a spitting image of Sally, in so many ways. He was incredibly thankful for one person in particular, and that was Ashley. Without her, him and Sal wouldn’t have either of their little girls.

He remembered the day, they’d been sitting in their house with Neil and Todd, Ashley sitting with them at the kitchen table as they laughed and talked, dinner having long been over. They were only 19, and had no idea what they were doing. They’d officially been married for one year, and Larry had leaned back in his chair, slicking his hair back. 

_‘I wouldn’t mind being a dad if I could,_ ’ he’d mentioned, cracking his back against the chair. 

_‘Why don’t we then?’_ Sally had humored him, running his hand lovingly through Larry’s hair. 

The conversation carried on into the later hours of the night, growing into the early hours of the morning. Ashley had listened to the two express their anxieties, their nerves, everything they’d felt about starting a family. They’d felt bad about how she was just sitting, listening, but there was just _so much_ to talk about. Then finally, at 3 in the morning, after hours and hours of talking, she finally spoke up:  
_‘What if I was your guys’ surrogate?’_

And now here he was, 9 years later with two little girls and a life he’d never thought he’d be alive to see. He ran his fingers sweetly through Magnolia’s now untangled hair. 

“Come on sweetie,” he began, going and pulling the drain cover out, letting the water start to empty, “Let’s get you dressed.”

* * *

Taking a shower yourself with an unattended toddler was always terrifying. He’d gotten used to showers with the bathroom door open and poking his head out of the shower curtain every 45 seconds to listen for any crashes or screams from his little one.

Magnolia was now at the age she could figure out how to get out of the play-pen, and she loved to mess with absolutely anything she could. Hopefully after putting the same Barney episode for the 15th time this week, he would be able to get one shower in without hearing any crashes. And, he was right! Well… mostly. After getting out of the shower and putting his wet hair up into a bun to avoid having to blow-dry it, he pulled his boxers on. His normal routine of deodorant, body spray, teeth brushing, all went well. It wasn’t until he was about to put his contacts in that he heard an awful, dreaded _crash_ come from the kitchen. 

Larry immediately dropped his contact case in the sink, nearly slipping on the floor as he ran out of the bathroom. He ran out to the kitchen, only to be met with a scene most wouldn’t believe him was real: 

Flour. 

Flour covering every single square inch of the kitchen floor, and his daughter, oh lord his sweet, darling, angel of a daughter, sitting in the middle of it all… 

Without an ounce of flour on her. 

“Hi, Dada.” Magnolia smiled up at him. 

In complete shock, Larry stared at her, his eyes wide and mouth agape. “Maggie…” He was practically at a loss for words. “Maggie, how… How in the—” he caught himself before he swore, “How did you manage this?” 

Magnolia just shrugged. 

Honestly, it was impressive.

It took nothing less of an hour for Larry to completely clean up the kitchen. He was grateful that yes, he didn’t need to bathe Magnolia again, but he certainly needed a shower himself after all that cleaning. 

Finally with the kitchen, himself, and that little troublemaker clean, it was time to start the day. He walked into the living room where Magnolia was watching Barney for the _16th_ time, and placed his glasses on. 

“Alright kiddo.” He turned the TV off, scooping her up. “Let’s go.”

Larry never particularly wanted to learn to drive. He figured if he was going to stay in Nockfell, he could walk. It only took about 30 minutes to walk from his house to his mom’s place, 10 minutes to walk to Sophie’s school, and only 15 minutes to walk to Sal’s work. But the moment that they decided they were going to start a family, that all changed. 

With all of the money him and Sal could scrape together, they bought an old, used, ‘98 Subaru Outback. And over the past 8 years, that car had been practically a part of their family. Metal CDs lived permanently in that CD player, ice cream stains and a melted crayon or two lived on the floors of the backseat. 

It was about 3 years later that they’d finally saved up enough money to get a house of their own. It’s not that they didn’t love sharing a home with Todd and Neil, but after the birth of their daughter things got... cramped. There were a lot of people living under one roof. Though, Larry liked to joke that he was happy they moved out so they could finally have sex in peace without being critiqued by the other couple. It didn’t seem to matter how quiet they were, Todd and Neil always used to know and they used to slip socks on their door just to make sure Larry knew that _they knew_. It was horrifying.

In short, he was glad to finally have a place to call his own.

Larry was a careful driver, especially when he had the girls with him. That didn’t stop him from always listening to metal, however. The girls were raised on Metal and Rock from both of their fathers, being exposed early on to Saintys Fall, Slipknot, Gojira, Korn, Slayer, Pantera, Motorhead, Tool, Lamb of God, Rammstein— the list went on. The girls adored listening to this music, just as much as their dads.

Once at the store, Larry plopped Magnolia down into the seat of the shopping cart. He buckled her in, handing her his lanyard with his keys to play with as they wandered the store. 

Going through the aisles, the stay-at-home dad looked over his handwritten list, leaning against the handle of the cart and mumbling quietly to himself. Standard things like cereal, juice, cheese, bread, _flour_. As he stood in the cereal aisle, he looked over all of the options, wondering what kinds he should get. He scratched his beard in thought, Magnolia reaching up and grabbing onto his black Sanitys Fall T-Shirt. 

“What kind you want, baby?” he asked Magnolia. 

“Sugar one,” she giggled. 

“She’s cute, what’s her name?”

Larry looked up, surprised. In front of him was a rather severe looking woman. Correction: her expression made her look severe, she was actually rather pretty with neat brunette hair, hazel eyes, and business casual attire. That being said, even if she didn’t look like she had a stick rammed straight up her butt, she wouldn’t be Larry’s type. He’s nothing if not polite though, especially given how he was treated as a teen and young adult. He’d at least prefer to not give people anything else to complain about.

“Magnolia, we call her Mags or Maggie though,” Larry finally replied.  
He grabbed some cereal without looking and started to put it into the cart when he’s interrupted by his little ball of joy. “Yucky Dada! Sugar one!”

“Mmm,” he hummed, looking at the Raisin Bran in his hand. He let out a laugh that had her giggling as well. “You’re right sweetheart, yucky.” He put it back on the shelf and grabbed one of the sugary ones that he knew she liked. It might not be the most healthy thing, but you only live once and the thought of not spoiling his little girls was horrifying to him.

“Raisin Bran could be good for her,” Julia spoke up. “It’s important to make sure our kids eat right, especially when they’re so young.”

“You might be right-”

“Julia.”

He took a deep breath. “You might be right Julia, but Mags is my kid and I get to say what she does and doesn’t have to eat. When you have kids you’ll understand where I’m coming from.”

“I guess you’re right,” she smiled. On anyone else it might look jovial or teasing, but on her it just looked wrong. He couldn’t really explain it; he just knew that he wanted to get him and his daughter away from her as soon as possible.

“Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have a few more things to get,” he said. He started to push his cart past her but she moved her hand to stop it. Larry jolted to a stop, looking at her alarmed as he left hand firmly held the cart in place.

She was still smiling that same smile that gave him the creeps. “I didn’t even get your name.”

Larry’s eyes moved slowly up from her left hand all the way to her face, realizing with slight horror that she was serious. He couldn’t believe this woman was flirting with him, and doing a piss poor job of it at that. Maybe Sal was right, the beard was a chick magnet. Tell that to gangly 14 year old Larry with his patchy facial hair.

“Larry,” he finally said.

“Dada go!” Magnolia babbled from her seat. Usually he would be racing her down the aisle now, not talking with this strange woman who is trying to hold him captive.

“Soon baby,” he smiled down at her, leaning over to kiss her forehead.

“Well it’s a pleasure to meet you Larry. I hope we have a chance to see each other more.”

“Uh, sure,” he replied awkwardly. He started pushing the cart forward again, thoroughly creeped out when she didn't take her hand off. Worse yet, it slid along the cart and up his arm as he passed her by. He forced himself to remain calm; it would do no one any good to make a scene in the middle of the cereal aisle and he never wanted Magnolia or Sophie to be exposed to anything like that. So he took in a deep breath and just put one foot in front of the other until he knew he was out of her sight. Then he looked down at his sweet daughter and smiled. “Wanna go for a ride down an empty aisle?”

“Yessss!” she cheered, tiny hands flying into the air. He turned down the coffee aisle before taking off, Magnolia cheering in sheer joy as the wind whipped past them. “Again again!” she yelled.

Larry, the weak man that he was, smiled down at her. “One more time sweetheart, and then we have to get the groceries.”

One time turned to two, turned to five, turned to getting dirty looks from an older lady. That got him to finally quiet his daughter down and continue on his way, looking for the rest of the things on his shopping list. It was only when he was loading the groceries into their rust bucket of a car that he realized something awful. That woman could clearly see his wedding ring… and he could clearly see hers.

**Author's Note:**

> Notes From Scout:  
> Hello pals! I hope you're all doing well! Thank you so much for reading the first chapter of what we hope to be a very long fic. Memento and I have put a lot of thought into this story, but it wouldn't have happened without the cosplay inspiration from a certain @Mayhem.Milo on Tiktok/Insta! Their Househusband Larry cosplay is what inspired this fic, so thank you so much!  
> Love & Pixels,  
> Scout
> 
> Notes From Memento:  
> Hello friends!! Please accept this co-written adventure. Know that Scout wrote all the sweet parts, and anything that hurts your soul was probably written by me. Seriously though, I really hope you enjoy our story because it's been a blast writing it. -Memento


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